It took the better part of 2014 but my article on Kyle MacDonnell is finally finished. Here’s the summary:
In the late 1940s, stage actress and singer Kyle MacDonnell became one of television’s very first stars, earning the nickname Miss Television and wide praise from critics. Between 1948 and 1951 she hosted a number of shows and made guest appearances on many others. She took a break from show business in 1951 to have a baby and her television career never recovered. When she died in 2004, her role as a television pioneer had been all but forgotten.
I had high hopes back in January that I would be able to complete four articles in 2014, one every three months. As has been the case for the past few years time just got away from me and it was a struggle to get just this one article published. I decided to publish it first in serial form and posted the first part way back in May, followed by the second part in June, and the third part in August. The original plan was to have the fourth part posted in September or October and then the complete article in November.
Part of what took so long to finish the article was my need to get it right. After spending so many years researching Kyle and the various TV shows she hosted and appeared on, I had to do her story justice. But there are still so many holes in that story that finishing the article was difficult. There’s so much I don’t know. I’ll keep digging and hopefully revise the article in the months and years to come as I uncover more information.
In the coming weeks I plan to post broadcast logs for a number of shows Kyle was involved with, including For Your Pleasure and Girl About Town. I also have a comprehensive (but not complete) listing of all her television appearances that I’ll be sharing as well as a list of surviving programs featuring Kyle. I might even post a few more images.
I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the article and learn a little bit about Kyle MacDonnell: TV’s Forgotten Star.
I remember her. I was named for her. Thank you so much for gathering all this information about Kyle. Before there was Kyle MacLaughlin and Kyle Chandler, there was a female TV star named Kyle and a little girl, born same year as her child, named Kyle after her.